Solid Gold
by Karen Weasley
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin always wanted another chance to be a father, and what if he got that chance with a young girl cursed with powers beyond her control? Nicole Gold is a resident of Storybrooke with no knowledge of her fairytale past until Emma Swan arrives to break the curse surrounding the town. But the end of the curse is only the beginning... NOT A MARY-SUE I PROMISE!
1. Chapter 1

_**Fairytales**_

Daylight crept through the barely there gap in the curtains and spilled across the floor and into the eyes of the sleeping form in the bed. Groaning, the form turned her head away from the prying light and tried to return to sleep. However, the dull thud of a cane on the hardwood in the hallway told her that more sleep would not be coming today.

A soft knock sounded against the door, and a gentle Scottish voice reached her ears. "Are you awake, sweetheart?"

"Unfortunately," the girl groaned.

The man chuckled. "Come on now, if you hurry, we'll have time for breakfast before we head to the shop."

Nicole Isabelle Gold pushed herself into a sitting position and stretched her arms above her head, forcing the last traces of sleep from her body. Swinging her legs out of bed, she padded over to the window and pulled back the curtain enough to see the town below her. Everything and everyone were just as they were every other day.

Mayor Mills (known to Nicole as Auntie Regina) made her way down the street with her hands shoved deep in her pockets as she surveyed the inhabitants of her town. Doctor Hopper and his dog crossed to their office, Mary Margaret hurried towards the school, and Granny and Ruby stood arguing in the street outside their café.

Out of habit, Nicole glanced at the clock and sighed as it still read 8:15. The clock had not moved in as long as should could remember, and no one seemed to be interested in fixing it…or perhaps no one could.

Hearing a pan being set on the stove downstairs brought her back to the present, and Nicole hurried to get ready for her day at her father's shop. Nicole spent the majority of her day helping her father manage the shop and take care of the artifacts within. She had worked there for what felt like forever, but she enjoyed the time she got to spend with her father.

Sometimes, if she was lucky, Auntie Regina would come and visit while her father was out collecting rent. Otherwise, she didn't get to see her aunt very often because of the issues between Regina and her father.

Many people had issues with her father, and Nicole kept mostly to herself because of this. Most of the town looked at her as someone who was probably just as bad as her father, but they never wanted to get close enough to find out. Nicole didn't mind. She had her father, and she had her aunt Regina; she never had any interest in anyone else.

"Sweetheart, breakfast is ready!"

"Coming Daddy!" Nicole called. She glanced at her reflection one last time to fix her long, black curls, grabbed her purse, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. "Smells delicious!" she added, crossing the kitchen and kissing her father on the cheek.

"It's your favorite," he smiled as he began plating the pancakes.

"Uh oh," Nicole smirked.

"What?"

"When I get pancakes you're usually bribing me."

"Am I not allowed to spoil my darling daughter on occasion?" he asked, feigning offense.

"Of course you are, Daddy, but I know you're not," Nicole laughed. "Now what is it?"

Gold sighed and smiled at his daughter. "Regina has asked if you could watch Henry for a little while tonight. She says she has a meeting and doesn't want to leave him alone."

"I'd love to watch him for a while. I love Henry. You didn't have to bribe me to do that, Daddy."

"I know, but I do love to spoil you," Gold replied softly, pulling her into a tight one-armed hug.

"I love you too, Daddy," Nicole smiled, and after a moment's pause… "So, can I borrow the Cadillac to go to his house?"

Gold chuckled. "Eat your breakfast, Nicole."

"That's not a 'no'," Nicole teased.

"It's not a 'yes' either," he reminded her.

After swearing up and down that she would be extra careful, Gold had finally relented and allowed Nicole to take the car over to Henry's house on the condition that she came back to the shop to pick him up when Regina came home. It wasn't as though Nicole couldn't make the walk, but she did love driving her father's car around town and showing off a little.

She pulled up in front of the mayor's mansion and walked up the lawn to see Regina already standing in the doorway with a rare but genuine smile.

"Nikki, dear, how nice to see you!" Regina was the only person allowed to call her "Nikki" except for her father, but he never seemed to want to.

"It's nice to see you too, Auntie," Nicole replied, hugging her aunt tightly.

"I really appreciate you watching Henry for me," Regina sighed as she led Nicole into the house. "I tried everything to move this meeting, but…"

"I understand, and it's no trouble," Nicole assured her. "I love getting a chance to see Henry."

"But I know how you and your father are with your time together…" Regina argued.

"Daddy had some work to finish at the shop, and he's been putting it off for days, so everything works out quite nicely," Nicole laughed.

"He never could tell you no, could he?" Regina smirked with a pointed glance at the car parked at the end of the drive.

"Well, you know me," Nicole winked.

"Hi Nicole!" Henry's voice sounded from the stairs.

"Hey Henry!" Nicole replied, smiling at the boy.

"He's already eaten, but he still has some homework to finish," Regina explained while she was pulling on her coat. "Help yourself to any books or whatever…"

"We'll be fine, Aunt Regina," Nicole soothed her. "Just concentrate on your meeting. I've got things here."

"I know you do," Regina smiled. "I'll be home as soon as I can. Behave Henry."

"I will, Mom," Henry promised and waved as Regina left the house. "I'll be down soon, there's something I want to show you!" Henry said excitedly.

"Make sure you do your work right!" Nicole called as he hurried back up to his room.

Nicole wandered into the living room where there was a stack of books on the shelf and a comfortable couch by the fire. She walked along the shelf, running her fingers over the spines of the books, all of which looked older than even some of the things in her father's shop. Her eyes caught the title of one particular volume: _Pirates' Lore and Legend_.

Carefully, Nicole pulled the book from the shelf and sat herself comfortably on the couch before cracking the spine and glancing through the table of contents. Running her fingers down the list of stories, something suddenly pulled her towards one in particular. Flipping to the appropriate page, Nicole began to read and quickly became engrossed in the tales of adventure.

"Nicole!" Henry's voice interrupted her concentration, and she jumped.

"In here, Henry!" she replied.

Henry hurried into the room, clutching a large, leather bound book in his arms. "Are you ok?" he asked taking note of her startled expression.

"I-I'm fine. You just surprised me, that's all. I was really into this book."

"What's it about?" Henry asked, sitting down beside her.

"Pirates," Nicole answered. "I guess you could say I've always had a thing for them."

"Well, that makes this easier," Henry said, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"What is it you wanted to show me so badly?"

"This," Henry whispered dramatically, handing her the large book.

Nicole looked at the cover. "_Once Upon a Time_?" she raised an eyebrow. "Henry, these are just fairytales. Everyone knows these stories."

"Not these ones," Henry insisted. "These ones actually happened, and the people in them are real. They're the people who live in this town."

Nicole gaped at the boy. "What?!" she cried. "Henry, you've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm serious, look!" Henry opened the book and pointed to an illustration of Snow White and Prince Charming. "You see them?"

"Yeah it's just the story of Snow White."

"No, that's Mary Margaret," Henry explained. "The Evil Queen cast a curse that brought everyone from the fairytales here to this town, and now they're trapped."

"Henry…don't you think they would know and have said something by now?"

"They don't remember!" Henry replied emphatically. "Think about it, do you remember anything about being a little girl? Do you remember going to school or your parents before Mr. Gold adopted you?"

Nicole paused at this. She had to admit, Henry had a point. No one in town seemed to be able to give an answer beyond "…as long as I can remember". She knew that Gold was her adopted father, but she also had no memory whatsoever of him coming into her life. She had always assumed that was because he had taken her when she was a baby, and therefore he was the only father she had ever known, but now she wondered if Henry was onto something.

"Ok, let's assume this is all true," she said slowly. "You said everyone in town was in the book, right?" Henry nodded. "Am I?"

Henry nodded again and opened the book to another colored illustration. "That's you when you were younger," he explained. "That was right after you came to live with your dad."

Nicole ran her hand over the image curiously. Turning the page, she saw a drawing of a man with greenish gold scales sitting beside the child at a spinning wheel. "Is that…" she trailed off.

"Yep," Henry said simply. "It's weird, this is the only part you see a picture of him. That must be because he's with you, so he's not a villain here."

"Daddy…" Nicole whispered, tracing the picture as though pleading with the ink to jog some memory she wasn't even sure she had.

"There's more," Henry encouraged. "You like pirates for a reason." He turned several more pages to when the girl had grown to a young woman. She now stood alone in what looked like a tower room, staring out of a window rimmed in red smoke.

"What is that?" Nicole asked.

"Your magic window," Henry explained. "Your father didn't trust mirrors because of the Evil Queen, so he gave you a window that would show you whatever you wanted to see."

"And I watched the sea?" Nicole asked skeptically.

"Well, you still do it here," Henry observed. "Haven't you ever wondered why?"

"I like the smell of the air," Nicole defended. "It helps me relax."

"No, it's because you're waiting for someone!" Henry corrected. "You fell in love with a sailor on a pirate ship, and you're waiting for him to come back to you like he promised."

"Henry that's impossible!" Nicole sighed. "I've never been in love."

"Not here, but you were there."

Nicole opened her mouth to respond, but the front door opened at that moment, and Henry hurriedly snapped the book shut and hid it under the cushion. "I'm home!" Regina announced. "I managed to cut the meeting short so I could put Henry to bed," she explained as she came around the corner.

"Well I should leave you to it, then," Nicole smiled, standing.

"What were you reading?" Regina asked, nodding to the book in Nicole's hands.

"Oh, it was just a pirate book from your shelf. Sorry, I guess I forgot to put it away when Henry came downstairs."

"It's alright, I haven't touched those books in years, so I probably wouldn't even have noticed," Regina laughed.

Nicole paused and looked at the book in her hands. "In that case, would you mind if I borrowed it for a while? Just to finish it."

"You can keep it if you want," Regina shrugged. "Like I said, I don't touch those books."

"Thank you Auntie Regina," Nicole hugged her aunt and pulled on her coat. "I should get going though."

"Your father will be waiting for you," Regina agreed. "Thank you again for staying with him."

"It's no trouble at all," Nicole smiled. "Call me anytime you need me, and I'll be happy to watch him."

Regina smiled as Nicole walked down the lawn and climbed back into the car. As soon as she was sure Regina had closed the front door, she checked her phone. Her father hadn't texted saying he was finished yet, and the sea was calling her yet again. She started the car and headed for the pier.

What Henry had said about everyone being fairytales, while on the surface an absurd idea, was refusing to be kicked out of her mind as she drove. She began, for the first time, to truly question her attraction to the sea. While it did calm and relax her, she always left with a sense of disappointment as though she had been waiting for something that never came. Henry's explanation was the only one that had ever been offered for this, and Nicole couldn't seem to shake the possibility that he was right.

Still, to believe in magic seemed crazy, but there was a part of her that desperately wanted to accept everything the young boy had said. She parked the car just off the pier and slowly began walking along the sea, breathing in the night air and staring reflexively out at the horizon line.

She laughed at herself after a few moments. What was she expecting to see: a pirate ship bringing back her long lost love that she knew nothing about? Besides, even if Henry was right, she couldn't imagine her father letting her out of his sight let alone be courted by a pirate. As if on cue, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

"Hello Daddy," she said with a smile.

"Hey sweetheart," his voice replied. "Has Regina come back from her meeting yet?"

"Yeah, a little while ago, actually," she admitted. "I've just been walking at the pier."

Her father chuckled. "You and that pier. I wish I could understand what it is you find so enjoyable about that place."

"So do I, Daddy…so do I," Nicole whispered, thinking back to what Henry had said.

"Are you alright, darling?" he asked, suddenly concerned at her change in tone.

"Yes I'm fine. I was just thinking about something Henry and I talked about tonight, but it's nothing important," she said quickly.

"Alright if you're sure…" he sounded as though he wanted to press the subject, but Nicole didn't want to try to explain this over the phone if she was to explain it at all.

"Are you finished then?" she asked to change the subject.

"Yes I am, and if you don't mind cutting your walk short, I'd like to go home, or we could always go back to the pier if you wanted…"

"No, I'd like to go home too," Nicole laughed. "I'll be there soon."

"Just be careful on the roads, sweetheart," her father warned.

"I always am, Daddy. See you when I get there."

She heard the click that meant her father had hung up, and she put the phone back in her pocket. She glanced again at the horizon and sighed. "If Henry is right and you are out there somewhere, and I just don't remember, I'm sorry I forgot you. I'm sure I still love you…" She trailed off for a moment and felt a tear leak out of her eye, but couldn't explain the reason for it. Her lips seemed to move on their own as she whispered, "Please find me," before turning and heading for the car to pick her father up from the shop, wiping the unexplained tear from her cheek on the way.

At that moment, worlds away from the shore where Nicole stood, a pirate felt a gentle warmth spreading from a pendant he wore around his neck. Starting, he looked down and heard a female voice, a voice he recognized and had thought never to hear again, whisper, "Please find me."

He gently squeezed the pendant in his hand and turned his now determined eyes back to the sea and the shore of his deserted and destroyed land. "I promised I would come back for you, and I will keep that promise no matter how long it takes me to find a way. I swear, love, I will find you again."

_**Well, this is my first attempt at Once Upon a Time, but I have been so obsessed with it that I had to try. This story was eating me from the inside out, so I figured I should let it out to share, and I hope you like it so far. Let me know what you think especially about keeping people in character since these characters are so amazing! Please fav/follow/review – it always makes me so happy! Thanks everyone, and I'll have another chapter out soon!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Araya**_

Gold glanced over at his daughter as he drove through town on their way home from the shop. She had been unusually quiet during the drive and had not even argued when he asked to drive home. "Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm?" she snapped back from her daydream. "Oh yes I'm fine."

"You've been quiet," he observed. "And you sounded distracted on the phone. What did you and Henry talk about?"

"Oh that…" Nicole trailed off. "It was nothing…a bit crazy, but nothing."

"It's obviously something," he pressed gently, stopping at the red light and turning to face his daughter. "What's wrong, darling?"

Nicole sighed. "Henry has this book of fairytales," she began, "but the stories were different."

"Different how?" Gold asked in a measured voice.

"Well, there were some I've never heard of," she explained. "He showed me one about a girl that went to live with a man with gold skin and a spinning wheel."

Gold stiffened beside her as he continued to drive.

"She had a window that was magic," Nicole continued, not noticing the change in her father's disposition. "She was watching the sea…"

"What did Henry say about the book?" Gold asked carefully.

Nicole forced a laugh. "He said that the characters were real, and they were the people in this town. He thinks the Evil Queen used a curse to bring them all here."

"And he thinks you're this young lady with the magic window?"

"Yes he does," Nicole replied. "He says you adopted me there too."

"So I'm the man with the gold skin?" Gold forced his own laugh. "That boy certainly does have an imagination."

"You think it's all in his head, then?" Nicole asked in an attempt to be offhand about it.

"Nicole," he sighed, and Nicole turned to him in surprise, for rare was the occasion when he used her name. "The alternative is believing we are all fairytale characters brought here by an evil curse and forced to forget who we really are," Gold explained. "I know we all want to believe in magic, but this is the real world, and in the real world-"

"There are no happy endings," Nicole finished glumly. "I remember, Daddy."

They made the remainder of the drive in silence. When they reached the house, Nicole reflexively helped her father from the car and up to the door. "Blasted ankle!" she heard him curse under his breath.

"I don't remember you getting hurt, Daddy," Nicole said sympathetically. "When did that happen?"

"It happened years ago," he replied with a slight grunt of pain, "before I adopted you."

"Can't the doctors help at all?"

"No there's nothing they can do for it. It would take magic to heal it," he chuckled darkly. "And we both know that doesn't exist here."

"I know it may sound insane, but part of me wishes Henry was right," Nicole admitted as they entered the house. "I wish magic did really exist, and we were part of some great fairytale."

"Why would you wish that?" Gold practically whispered.

"I don't know. It would be fun to live in a castle," Nicole giggled. "The fancy dresses, the balls, the adventure…is that crazy?"

"Not for you," Gold laughed. "You've always been one for adventure and something beyond this world. I wish I could give you what you want."

"Oh Daddy, no!" Nicole gushed instantly. "I wouldn't trade what I have with you for anything! I love you, and that's all I need."

Gold hugged her tightly and fought back his tears. "I love you too, sweetheart." Pulling away, he smiled again. "Now, why don't you head to bed?"

"I think I will, actually," Nicole said gratefully. "It's been an interesting day. Good night, Daddy." She leaned in and kissed his cheek before pulling away completely and climbing the stairs to her bedroom.

Once he was sure she was in her room, Gold sank down on the couch and sighed. He wished the curse would end so he could have his beloved daughter back in every way. Regina had been kind and let him keep her, but she wasn't entirely herself. The name Nicole felt all wrong on his lips, and he never used it if he could help it.

With the news that the boy had found the book, he knew that Emma would be arriving soon, but he still could not wait until the day when his child would look at him with her true memories back in place. He also wanted to introduce her to her brother once he found him. The truth of who they were was getting harder and harder to conceal, but he knew he had to keep up the act for just a little bit longer…

Several nights later, Nicole and Gold were sitting in the living room together after dinner, each lost in their own reading but still enjoying the other's company. "Did you hear about the stranger Sheriff Graham arrested last night?" Nicole asked suddenly.

"No I didn't," Gold smirked. "What happened?"

"Apparently she ran into the town sign on her way out last night. I heard she had been dropping Henry off and was a little tipsy thanks to Auntie Regina."

"Oh so that's the woman I met at Granny's earlier this evening," Gold observed. "What was she doing with Henry?"

"The rumor is that she's his birth mother," Nicole shrugged. "I guess Auntie Regina was not happy with the situation."

"Henry left and found his birth mother and brought her here?" Gold clarified, barely daring to hope that he could have been right.

"According to the story flying around town," Nicole nodded. "It caused quite the talk today, whatever really happened. It's the most exciting thing to happen in forever!"

"Yes I suppose it is," Gold agreed, already lost in his own thoughts and plans.

"Well, I think I'll head to bed," Nicole announced with a yawn. "Good night, Daddy."

"Good night, sweetheart," he called over his shoulder as she slowly climbed the stairs. He could scarcely believe it was finally going to happen. Finally, Nicole would realize who she really was, and he would finally have his precious-

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream from upstairs. "Sweetheart!" Gold cried as he sprang to his feet and hobbled up the stairs as fast as he could go with his bad ankle. "Sweetheart what's-" he gasped as he hurried into her room.

Nicole ran to him and seized his arms in a mixture of shock and fear. "Th-the clock!" she whispered. "It's moved! I saw it move, I swear!"

Gold gently freed himself from her grip and went to the window. Staring up at the clock tower, he could indeed see the minute hand no longer resting at its position at a quarter past. The curse was beginning to lift at last!

"Hey, now that's nothing to be frightened of," he soothed, gently stroking her hair. "It's alright."

"I-I guess it just caught me so off guard…" Nicole trailed off, fighting to even out her breathing. "I'm sorry I made you run up here for nothing."

"You being frightened is not nothing," he assured her. "I don't care that you're over twenty – you're still my little 'Ray of Sunshine', alright?"

Nicole nodded and smiled. "But I was scared by a clock," she laughed. "First I'm talking about magic, and now this. You'll be locking me in the asylum before long."

"I couldn't be away from you like that whether you were crazy or not," he teased. "But just between us…"

"Daddy!" Nicole cried in mock indignation.

Gold chuckled. "I'm only teasing, darling. Now, get some sleep, and we'll see about the clock in the morning, alright?"

"Alright, thank you, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too," Gold replied with a smile as he left the room. "And soon you'll know just how much again," he added to himself under his breath.

_**Flashback**_

Rumpelstiltskin sat at his wheel spinning and trying to forget the guilt that still gnawed at his heart about Baelfire. No matter how many centuries went past, he knew he would never forgive himself He hated that some deep dark part of him constantly taunted him, declaring that he truly was no better than his own father after all. Wishing was a waste, he knew, but he sometimes couldn't help himself from dreaming of a second chance to show he could be more than a coward.

As he continued to spin, he felt someone run through his magical wards surrounding the castle. He frowned in confusion. People who wanted to talk to him about deals usually just called his name in desperation…not even the most desperate came knocking at his door, and the only other visitor he had was Regina who would simply magic herself into his main hall. Curious, Rumpelstiltskin stood and flashed himself to the front door of the castle.

Ordering the doors to open, he glanced outside in confusion upon seeing no one until a small blur whooshed past him into his castle.

"What-?" he cried as he spun to see the shape now curled under a table and shaking in obvious fear. He cautiously approached the figure and realized it was a child…a girl to be more specific. She was hiding her face in her arms, but her black curly hair gave it away. "What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice, and he could see the unadulterated fear in her eyes, but they were not directed at him. She shakily raised her arm to point past him and outside before she buried her face in her arms again.

Rumpelstiltskin frowned. What could possibly be out there that was so frightening, this child was willing to come to the Dark One for protection? He glanced back at the child and noticed a thin strand of gold tied around her wrist, and something clicked. Opening his mouth to question the girl further, he heard someone else crossing the bridge to his castle and turned sharply to face the intruder.

Standing at the door was a man shrouded in a cloak with a deep hood that hid his face from view. "Well now, dearie, it's dangerous to approach the castle of the Dark One especially when you don't show your face."

"How I look is of no importance to you, Dark One," the man growled in a low voice. Rumpelstiltskin noticed the girl curl further away at the sound. "It is only my name that you will need to remember because it is the name of the man that will kill you."

"Oh I highly doubt that, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin taunted. "You can't kill me just like none of the others who have tried can. Besides, if you did actually manage to kill me, you would wish you hadn't."

The man laughed darkly. "You honestly think I would go through all the trouble of finding the Dark One to kill him without knowing that I would take his powers? I _want _those powers of yours to make myself the most powerful sorcerer of all time! Now where is your dagger?"

Rumpelstiltskin laughed his high, insane laugh. "You really think I'm going to tell you when you've just admitted you want to kill me? You're crazier than you look, dearie."

"I've just destroyed an entire village to prove my point, and I will continue to prove myself until I have what I want."

"I don't care what village you destroyed," Rumpelstiltskin scoffed. "You may think that becoming the Dark One will make you all powerful, but until that day, you will never be able to defeat me."

"Then at least give me that child that's hiding behind you," the man smirked. "She escaped from her village, but she is quite valuable, so I would be glad to take her off your hands."

Rumpelstiltskin glanced over his shoulder to see the girl's eyes widening in fear as she struggled to move further away from the man. "Mhmm…let me think about that for a minute…NO!" he giggled again. "I may be the Dark One, but I draw the line at killing children."

"Who said I was going to kill her?" the man laughed. "Did you not hear me say she was special? I could find a use for her."

"The answer is still no, and now I suggest you get out of my castle," Rumpelstiltskin growled. He snapped his fingers, and the man flew backward across the bridge. With another snap of his fingers, the doors boomed closed and magical wards shot up around the entire castle.

Once he was certain the intruder would not be able to return, Rumpelstiltskin turned his full attention to the girl still huddled under his table. He walked slowly over to her and knelt in front of her with what he hoped was a kind expression.

"Are you alright?" he asked, noticing that the imp voice he had become so accustomed to, had vanished. When the girl didn't respond, he moved closer and noticed for the first time that the hem of her dress was slowly turning the ugly copper color of blood. He carefully lifted the dress just enough to see the beginning of a jagged cut across the side of her leg as though she had run past something sharp. Without truly thinking, he waved his hand over the cut and watched as it healed before his eyes.

He scooped the child up as soon as he was sure she wouldn't start bleeding again and flashed them both to a spare room he had upstairs close to his own. He lay the child down on the bed and looked closely at her face. The gold strand around her wrist was definitely from him because it looked like all the other gold he spun, but he couldn't seem to place the girl in his memory.

Suddenly, she shifted against the sheets and slowly opened her eyes. "Y-you saved me?" she asked slowly.

"Don't worry. He can't get in here," Rumpelstiltskin assured her, still in his normal voice. "You're safe as long as you stay within the protection spell."

The girl reached down to her leg where the wound had been and looked up at him in awe. "You healed me too? How did you do that?"

"Magic," he replied. "May I ask you something?"

The girl nodded.

"Where did you get that?" he pointed at the gold.

She looked at him in confusion. "You gave it to me just like all the others," she replied as though it was obvious. "Every time you walked through my village, you would leave me a piece of gold to wear on my wrist. That's why I call you Mr. Gold."

Rumpelstiltskin could've smacked himself in the head. How had he forgotten this child? "Where are you parents?" he asked after a moment. "Do you know if they escaped the town as well?"

The girl shook her head. "My father left years ago, and my mother left not long ago. I was living alone in the village, and that's why I was able to get away."

Rumpelstiltskin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No one in the village took you in when your mother left?" he asked incredulously.

"No one wanted me," the girl replied, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm a monster there."

Her words reached Rumpelstiltskin deeper than anything had in a long time. This girl had been abandoned and left completely alone just as he had…and just as he had left Bae. Perhaps this girl would be the second chance he had been dreaming of.

"Well, in that case, you should stay here," he said finally.

"You're letting me stay?" she asked in amazement.

"Would you prefer I left you for the wild animals in the forest?" he asked, slipping into his imp voice unconsciously.

The girl giggled. "No," she said. "But I don't want to be a problem."

"Oh no problem," Rumpelstiltskin stuttered. "Just…just stay away from my work room and anything that looks like it could break," he warned.

"Thank you," the girl yawned.

Rumpelstiltskin awkwardly stood and crossed to the door. He was about to leave when something crossed his mind. He turned back to the child. "One more thing. What is your name?"

Without opening her eyes or moving at all, the girl breathed out her response: "Araya…" before falling sound asleep.

"Araya," Rumpelstiltskin repeated, enjoying the way the name sounded. "Good night, then…Araya."

_**Well, there's another chapter! I hope you like the story so far, and thanks to the people who have already favorite/followed! I'll have another chapter out soon, but until then, please continue to fav/follow/review and make me happy! Thanks everyone! **_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Curse**_

Several weeks had passed since Emma Swan first came to town. As everyone in the town noted, the clock beginning to move was the least dramatic change that had occurred. Nicole had not yet had a direct encounter with Emma, but she knew it would only be a matter of time, especially with Swan now being the sheriff of Storybrooke.

One particular afternoon, Nicole was managing the shop alone while her father ran back to the house for a few minutes when the front door slammed shut. "Daddy!" she cried in surprised. "You startled me! What's wrong?" she asked when she saw the look of utter fury on his face.

"Someone broke into the house," he growled. "They stole several things…"

"What did they take?" Nicole asked in horror.

"Something extremely valuable that cannot be replaced," he said simply. "Ms. Swan better hope she gets it all back."

"You're trusting her to get your things back?" Nicole asked skeptically.

"For now," he replied coolly. "But rest assured, my dear, if she fails…"

"I think I have a pretty good idea, Daddy," Nicole smirked. "I can watch the shop whenever you need me to."

Gold chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "You really shouldn't be so understanding."

"Why not?" Nicole scoffed. "No one steals from you, especially if it's something really important to you."

Several hours later, Nicole was in the process of closing the shop for the night. Her father had been called over to the Sheriff's office a little while ago – apparently Swan had found the stolen items. Nicole was just pulling on her coat when the little bell tinkled announcing someone was in the shop.

"Sheriff," Nicole sighed. "I'm just closing up, so whatever it is can wait until tomorrow morning."

"I'm not here to buy anything," Emma said seriously. "I'm here to talk about your father."

"Did you not find something?" Nicole smirked. "I bet he wasn't happy to hear that."

"No he wasn't. He stormed off talking about going to get it himself."

"It doesn't surprise me," Nicole shrugged. "He's very possessive about his things."

"Did he tell you what was missing?" Emma asked carefully.

"No he didn't," Nicole replied tersely. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Emma seized her arm as she tried to walk by. "Is your father going to hurt someone?"

Nicole's eyes flashed angrily. "Are you asking me to turn in my own father?"

"Yes if he's doing something wrong, which I'll bet he is," Emma replied sharply. "He is not someone I trust."

Nicole wrenched her arm from Emma's grip and glared at the woman. "I would sooner spend the night in jail than tell you anything about my father," she hissed. "How dare you assume that I would turn on him?! But then again," she smirked evilly, "what else can I expect from a woman who knows nothing about family?"

Emma glared at her, but Nicole held her ground. "If you want to find him," she continued icily, "you're going to have to do it on your own. Now get out of this shop!"

Emma turned on her heel and stormed out of the shop. Nicole breathed heavily for a moment before screaming her frustration into the empty air. She was so _sick _of people making assumptions about her family! If they weren't telling her how evil her father was, then they were whispering behind her back about how evil she must be too. She loved her father, and her father loved her…why did anything else have to matter?

Collecting herself, Nicole gathered her things and locked up the shop, power walking through town and focusing her eyes directly in front of her. People seemed to drift out of her way as she walked, and she smirked as she realized that she really could be like her father when she wanted to be.

"Daddy?" she called upon entering the house. There was no answer, and all the lights were off. Nicole forced down her concern. She knew that her father would indeed go after whoever had stolen from him, and she had no doubt that he would recover the object in question, but she hadn't been lying when she told Swan she didn't know what that was. Her father's possessions were a secret to her, but she left it that way. She knew his past was painful, and she had no desire to hurt him by bringing it up.

Deciding that she would wait up for her father in case he needed her, she changed into her pajamas, grabbed her pirate book, and returned to the living room. Curling up on the couch, Nicole read from her book until she finally dozed off against the arm of the couch near midnight.

Gold sat cursing to himself even as he clutched the tea cup tighter to assure himself that he did in fact have it back. He knew Nicole would be worried about him, but Emma had refused to let him call her the night before. At that moment, Emma walked into the room and threw her jacket on her desk.

"Alright, Gold, you get to call your daughter," she sighed.

"Am I supposed to thank you for allowing me to be a parent?" he asked sarcastically as she unlocked his cell.

"Nope because I wouldn't be letting you do it except your shop isn't open yet, and people have said that that's weird. Apparently the shop is open whether you are there or not, so I'm letting you see what's wrong."

At her words, Gold threw himself to the desk and dialed as fast as he could. It was true, even if he was sick, Nicole had always kept the shop running, so the idea of her not being there meant something was wrong. He held the phone to his ear and waited breathlessly for her to answer, but the phone merely continued to ring and ring in his ear.

"Well?" Emma asked after a moment.

"She's not answering," Gold muttered, concern dripping from every syllable. "I don't care what your sense of justice is, Sheriff Swan, but right now I need to get to my daughter. I'm sure you can understand."

Emma hesitated. Her professional side was screaming to put Gold back in his cell and check in on the girl herself, but the recently found parent side was kicking her to let him go. After all, wouldn't she drop everything to go to Henry if she thought even one hair was out of place?

"Fine, Gold, you can go," she sighed finally. "But I will be keeping a close eye on you," she added as a feeble warning.

Gold didn't even rise to her comment – he was already out the door. He drove faster than he had ever gone in his life as image after image of horrible things flashed through his mind. He tried convincing himself that it was probably nothing: he would simply find her asleep in bed, but it didn't seem to be working.

"NICOLE!" he shouted as he hobbled up the path to the front door. Shoving the door open, he looked around desperately, running from room to room and calling her name. Finally, as he hurried through the living room, he saw her collapsed on the floor beside the couch. "Sweetheart!" he cried, hurrying to her side.

It looked as though she had tried to stand up and had simply collapsed. Gold gently took her shoulders and rolled her so she was lying with her head in his lap and did a quick scan with his eyes for broken bones. His breathing eased when it appeared she was fine, but she was still unconscious. Oh how he wished for magic in that moment!

"Nicole…sweetheart I need you to wake up now…please sweetheart…look at me," he urged, lightly shaking her.

Finally, Nicole's eyes fluttered open. "D-daddy?" she whispered weakly.

"It's alright, sweetheart, I'm here," he assured her. "When you didn't open the shop this morning, someone told the Sheriff, and she let me call you, but when you didn't answer…" he trailed off. "Are you alright?"

"I-I don't know," Nicole admitted. "I-I can't move!" Her voice rose in panic, and Gold gently shushed her.

"You'll be fine, sweetheart, just tell me what happened and stay calm. I promise, you're going to be fine."

Nicole took a deep breath and forced herself to think. "I came down here to wait for you last night," she said slowly. "I was reading, and I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up this morning, I was going to go and open the shop, but when I tried to get up, my legs just…just gave out, and I fell. I think I hit my head on the coffee table," she added.

"When you say your legs gave out…" Gold began hesitantly. "Do you mean…?"

"I mean they just crumpled like paper," Nicole replied. "Everything feels like lead," she groaned. "Daddy…what's wrong with me?" she begged.

Gold swallowed hard. "I don't know," he lied, "but I'm sure you'll be alright soon. Let's just…let's just get you back onto the couch for now, and we'll work from there, alright?"

Nicole nodded and, with her father's help, rolled back onto the couch.

Gold hobbled upstairs to her room to fetch a blanket for her and paused when he saw the locket he had given her in the other realm lying on her vanity. Hoping he was wrong, he brought the necklace along. "Sweetheart, just out of curiosity, did Ms. Swan come and see you last night?" he asked as he draped the blanket over her.

"Yeah, she came to the shop and wanted me to turn you in, but I told her there was no way that was going to happen. I don't think she likes me very much," she laughed quietly.

"Did she…?" Gold began, uncertain how to phrase his question. "Did she…did she put her hands on you at all?" he asked.

"She grabbed ahold of me when I tried to leave," Nicole replied. "Why does that matter?"

"No reason," Gold lied quickly. "I just wanted to know how angry with her to be the next time I see her," he explained.

Turning away from his daughter, his mind flooded with fear. If Emma had indeed come into physical contact with Nicole, the curse may be starting to lift from her which meant that her sudden weakness was indeed a big problem. He thanked his own paranoid planning that he had created the locket in the first place, and he could only hope that it would last long enough for that stupid Emma to get the curse lifted properly.

Forcing a smile, he turned back to Nicole and held out the piece of jewelry. "Here I thought you might want this," he said. "You always used to hold it when you were sick."

Nicole took the locket with a fond smile, and gently ran her thumb over the pendant. "It was always my favorite," she conceded.

Gold watched with relief as some of the color began to return to Nicole's cheeks as she continued to hold the locket. Within a few hours, she would be fine again, but she would have to wear the locket all the time to keep the weakness from returning, so Gold knew he would have to devise a way to make sure that happened. He would also have to have another conversation with Regina. As much as he distrusted the woman when it came to most things, he knew she had a soft spot for Nicole, and he was confident she would have something that could help the situation.

"You just rest now," he instructed. "You'll be alright soon enough."

"Will you stay?" Nicole asked.

"Of course, if you want me to," Gold replied.

"I do," Nicole admitted quietly. "When I started to collapse, I was so scared because I knew you weren't here. I know I should be able to handle things on my own, but I like it better when you're around to help."

"I'll be here for you as long as you want me to be," Gold assured her with a smile. "I promise, and you know that I-"

"Never break a promise," she finished with him. "You're the best, Daddy."

Gold felt tears pricking at his eyes again, and simply settled back in his arm chair and watched his daughter slip into sleep.

Several hours later, Gold was in the kitchen preparing tea for when Nicole awoke, when he heard her shifting restlessly in the living room. Peering into the room, he saw her writhing around in her sleep and hurried to shake her awake.

"Sweetheart, wake up!" he commanded, and she obeyed.

Her eyes shot open and looked around in panic for a few moments before finally settling on him. "It-it was terrible!" she insisted.

"What did you see?" he asked gently.

"I saw…flashes of all different things," she said breathily. "I saw a village on fire, I saw a man in a cloak leering at me, I saw people running from me, I saw you in some sort of cell while people pulled me away from you, and I saw huge clouds of purple and green smoke! It was just so scary…"

Gold tensed. Now she was beginning to remember her true memories too…what should he do? If he told her it was nothing, he would be lying, but if he told her it was all real, she might not be able to handle it. Accepting their truth was insane, crazy, and something that only Henry and "the Savior" should have to deal with. Nicole should have remained blissfully unaware until the curse was finally broken when everything would come back at once.

"It must have been because of Henry's book," Nicole reasoned suddenly, letting him off the hook. "You looked like the drawing in the book, and I must have just brought life to the other drawings too. I guess I should stop reading before bed," she joked. "Oh look!" she added with joy. "I can move again. It must have been some kind of dizzy spell or something."

"Perhaps so," Gold agreed, although "spell" was much closer to the mark than she realized.

"Is that tea I smell?" Nicole asked eagerly. "I could really use a cup right about now, thank you Daddy!" she sighed gratefully. "Let's go eat."

Gold nodded and allowed her to leave for the kitchen first. Now that Nicole was remembering _and _suffering from her old curse, he knew that he would have to intervene and help push the Savior into breaking the curse before he lost his daughter forever.

_**Well there's a little mystery for you to ponder as I work on the next chapter! I'm really going to move through the first season since it's mostly just getting everyone's backstories in the show, and since I only have one character to explain, it shouldn't take as long. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed, and please leave your thoughts, comments, questions in a review. I'll be back soon! Thanks everyone!**_

_**lzzie14: The story of Araya/Nicole is something I completely made up, but the magic window thing is kind of borrowed from Beauty and the Beast. In the movie, Beast gives Belle a magic mirror to see the outside world, but since Rumpelstiltskin doesn't trust mirrors because of Regina, I figured a window would work just as well. So, that's the only thing that is from a fairy tale…the rest I'm making up. I'll explain more of her backstory as we go, but it is all from my head. Thanks for your review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Lies**_

After Nicole recovered from her "dizzy spell", she returned to her work at the shop, but with a deep seated mistrust for the new sheriff. Perhaps it was a good thing that Emma seemed to share this mistrust and avoided contact with Nicole as often as humanly possible. Unfortunately, the rest of the town wasn't so considerate of her space.

Whispers followed Nicole as she walked to and from her father's shop, and stares trailed her when whispers were afraid. At first, Nicole thought nothing of them – it's not like they were anything new to her, but that changed when she walked into Granny's for lunch one afternoon.

Her father had said something about an important meeting of some kind, and Nicole took this to mean she would be having lunch alone, so she had decided on Granny's. She walked in, and suddenly the room fell silent. Ignoring the change in atmosphere as much as she could, Nicole headed for the counter and sat at one of the stools.

"Could I just have some soup, Granny?" she asked politely. The old woman nodded and walked away, strangely silent. Ruby came over with Nicole's usual tea, and Nicole took the opportunity to ask, "Why's everyone so quiet today?"

Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but Leroy beat her to it.

"Maybe it's 'cause we don't want you runnin' back to your dear old dad to tattle on all of us," he said darkly.

"What?" Nicole gasped. "Why would you think I-"

"Oh please," Leroy scoffed. "He only spent one night in jail for beating up Moe French because you suddenly got 'sick'," he quoted with his fingers. "We weren't born yesterday, you know."

Nicole stared around the restaurant in a mixture of anger and a strange sense of fear as everyone seemed to be glaring at her from behind their glasses. "I'm suddenly not so hungry," she whispered, putting her money down on the counter and moving towards the door. She paused and turned back to the crowd. "I really was sick, not that it's any of your business. I don't know why you're all determined to hate my father and me, but I think it's starting to go to your heads!"

She slammed the door behind her, shoved her hands deep in her coat pockets, and walked furiously towards the pier to clear her head. How dare they imply that she would fake being sick to get her father out of jail?! She hadn't even known that's where he was!

Storming across the sand, Nicole turned to face the sea, allowed the wind to whip her hair around her face, and forced down her anger with deep, shuddering breaths. It was in moments like this that she felt lonely. Most of the time, having her father and Regina was enough, but lately Regina had been so busy plotting how to get rid of Emma, and her father was the reason the town currently hated her. Not that she blamed her father for it, but she did wish she could talk to him about it without him flying off the handle and promising to harm anyone that came near her…that only made things worse.

Somehow, her mind drifted back to the story of the girl at the window from Henry's book. She had been lonely too, but she had found love in a sailor – someone she could talk to when everything became too much. Now more than ever she wanted to believe that Henry was right, and that girl _**was **_her. That would mean that somewhere, anywhere, out there was someone who would be on her side no matter what.

"Hey," a forlorn voice called, shaking Nicole from her thoughts.

She turned and saw, of all people, Mary Margaret walking across the sand towards her.

"Did they run you out of town too?" she asked with a sympathetic expression. "They seem to like doing that these days," she continued when Nicole nodded.

"People are horrible," Nicole sighed. "They like simplicity, and so anything complicated gets written off as black or white."

"I know the feeling, but I don't think all people are bad," Mary Margaret objected. "I think they want to be good, they just don't always know how."

"You are too optimistic for someone who's being accused of murder," Nicole observed. "I don't think you did it, by the way," she added when Mary Margaret fell silent.

"You don't?" she asked hopefully.

"You're not a killer," Nicole explained. "I can't believe that you would hurt someone just to get what you want. I think you'd rather be without what you want than hurt someone."

"Thank you," Mary Margaret sighed, obviously touched. "Most people don't see it that way, but I swear I didn't kill anyone!"

"I know, they're after me for getting my father out of jail."

"How is that your fault? I thought Emma let him go."

"She did – to check on me," Nicole explained. "I was sick and couldn't get to the phone, so Daddy came running home to take care of me, but the town seems to think I faked it to get him out."

"I don't think you would do that," Mary Margaret observed quietly. "I think you would try to keep him from going in, and I think you would do what you could to get him out, but any child would do that for their parent. I don't think you would use deception like that."

"Thanks," Nicole smiled. "I didn't even know that's where he was, and it just…I don't know…_hurts_ to have the town see me that way. I know it doesn't matter because I have Daddy and everything, but I just…"

"You just wish they would see you for who you are instead of who they think you are," Mary Margaret supplied sadly. "Unfortunately, only a few people have that ability."

_**Flashback**_

Araya crept down the stairs of the castle and peered around the corner. Upon seeing no one, she hurried through the hallways until she found the room she had last remembered being in when the sorcerer had been chasing her. She moved quietly through the room, heading for the door, when a voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"And where do you think you're going, dearie?"

Araya slowly turned to see the man she called Mr. Gold watching her from a spinning wheel in the corner of the room. She shuffled her feet and stared at the floor in shame. She hadn't meant to be rude, but she _had _to leave before something bad happened.

"I was leaving," she murmured.

"Now why on Earth would you do that?" he asked, not sounding angry…merely confused. "If you're worried about me hurting you, I can assure you I don't hurt children."

Araya shook her head. "It's not you I'm afraid of."

"Well, I told you that sorcerer can't get in here anymore, so you don't have to worry about him, and no one else knows you're here."

"I'm not afraid of him or anyone else either," she whimpered.

"Then what are you afraid of, dearie?" he pressed.

"Me…" she said quietly. "I'll hurt you."

"You can't," he said simply. "The only thing that can hurt me is…well, not you."

"But you have magic," Araya insisted. "I hurt people with magic."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a monster!" Araya cried, tears falling from her eyes. "Everyone says so, but I don't mean to do it, it just happens!"

"What does?" he asked, moving towards her and allowing his voice to take on a kinder tone.

"Stay away!" she shrieked. "I'll hurt you too, and I don't want to!"

He stopped and seemed to think for a moment before holding out his hand. "Let's try something…" he muttered and a small ball of light appeared in his hand.

Suddenly, without either of them moving, the light flew out of his hand and into Araya as though she had absorbed it. He stumbled back in shock, and Araya started crying even harder.

"See?" she sobbed. "I steal magic from people and hurt them, but I can't stop it from happening! I promise I don't mean to do it! I really _am _a monster!"

"Stop saying that!" he said sternly. "You are no monster."

"But I just hurt you, Mr. Gold," she whimpered.

"Call me Rumpelstiltskin," he said, the gentle tone back in place. "That's my real name. And you didn't hurt me," he added as an afterthought. "You caught me off guard, but you didn't hurt me."

"But Mother and Father said I hurt people with magic," Araya insisted. "And you saw what I did – I stole that light from you!"

"Sometimes people without magic are so afraid of people with magic that they make them feel less than human," Rumpelstiltskin explained with a sigh. "They just don't see how beautiful it can really be."

"Not mine," Araya sniffed. "It's bad."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "No it isn't! You just don't understand it yet, but I can help you do that. Let's start by explaining it, shall we? You, Araya, are what is called a Siphon."

"A what?"

"A Siphon," he repeated. "You absorb magic around you and use it as your own. Magic is what keeps you alive, and so your body takes it wherever it can find it."

"But there's no magic in my village," Araya said, confused. "How did I live?"

Rumpelstiltskin pointed at the strand of gold around her wrist. "I happened to be walking through your village one day and saw you. You were just a baby then, but I knew what you were. Every time I passed through, I would leave you those gold bracelets to draw the magic from."

"Why?" she asked. "You didn't even know me."

"All magic should be protected," was his only reply. "And you were just a child."

"So I have to steal magic to stay alive," Araya whispered.

"Yes, but it is possible to control it," Rumpelstiltskin offered. "I can teach you how to control not only what you take but where you take it from. I can even teach you how to use some of the magic you take."

"I can do that?" Araya asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh yes," he chuckled. "Once you've absorbed it, the magic is yours until you use it. Then it will go back to the person it belongs to. I'll teach you how to take enough to use and live, and once you understand and control your power," he knelt down in front of her, "you won't see yourself as a monster anymore. Would you like that?"

Araya nodded slowly. "Yes please, Rumpelstiltskin. I don't want to be a monster anymore."

"You never were…" he assured her. "You never were."

_**Back in Storybrooke**_

Nicole and Mary Margaret had continued to talk through the afternoon, unaware of the time passing. It was Mary Margaret who noticed first.

"Oh it's so late!" she gasped, looking at her watch. "Your father will be worried sick! I'm so sorry that I kept you!"

"Don't be," Nicole assured her. "I needed the distraction, and I think you did too. And Daddy won't be too upset – the shop's been practically dead for days."

"Well, I'll see you around then?" Mary Margaret asked hopefully. "I mean, we don't have to see each other again if you don't want to, but not many people want to talk to me these days, so I just thought…"

"I'd love to spend more time with you," Nicole smiled. "Even though I still think you're way too optimistic."

Mary Margaret laughed and waved as she headed back along the beach towards town.

Nicole turned her gaze back to the horizon and felt her smile drop slightly. Despite Mary Margaret's distraction, she still felt lonely and wished for someone like the girl in the book had had. For the first time in a long time, Nicole had no desire to return home.

She didn't feel like rehashing the entire day to her father, and she also didn't feel like lying to him and pretending nothing had happened. No, the only thing she truly wanted to do was forget that it had happened at all, and there was only one place in all of Storybrooke to do that: The Rabbit Hole.

Her father absolutely despised The Rabbit Hole and had told her never to go there, but on several occasions, Nicole had ignored him and gone anyway to blow off some steam and forget for a while. Now was going to be one of those times.

Two hours and several drinks later, Nicole was dancing across the floor, uncaring who was around or what they thought of her. The longer she danced, the less she cared what was going on around her, and the more things started to blur together.

Ignoring the blurring of colors and shapes, Nicole continued to dance, forcing the memories of the day further and further back in her mind. As she spun, the interior of the bar shifted and blurred so much that it looked like an entirely different room – much less modern and darker. Despite the general feeling of disorientation, Nicole could swear she was able to see one face clearer than the others, but still blurry.

It was a man, and he was coming towards her, his smile flashing. Nicole tried to focus on him and figure out who he was, but the memories seemed blocked somehow. She tried to reach out to him, but her arms wouldn't move. Suddenly…

"NICOLE ISABELLE GOLD!" a voice boomed, shattering her image and grounding her back in reality.

Nicole stopped dancing and looked towards the voice. She had stopped moving, but the room was still spinning and blurry as she tried to focus on her father's very angry face. The feeling reminded her of how she had felt the morning before she had fallen and hit the table. Panicked by this thought, Nicole hurried across the room towards her father and followed him outside without a word.

As soon as they reached the car, Gold rounded on her. "How many times have I told you to stay away from this place?" he seethed. "Do you have any idea what could happen to you in a place like this?"

Nicole nodded, gripping the roof of the car and struggling to stop the world from spinning and her body from shaking.

"Are you listening to me?" Gold asked sharply, noticing her distracted posture.

"Daddy…" Nicole breathed. "Something's wrong with me."

"What is?" he asked slowly.

"I feel weak again," she replied. "The room was spinning inside, but I thought it was just from dancing."

Gold tensed. "Do you have your keychain with you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nicole demanded.

"Everything!" Gold cried. "I told you to keep it with you!"

"I-I think I left it in the car this morning," Nicole gasped.

Gold reached into the glove box and found the keychain bearing the locket he had given her before. He hastily pushed it into her hand and watched as she started to regain control of her body.

"Wh-what keeps happening to me?" Nicole asked, frightened. "And why does this keep stopping it?" she added, gesturing to the locket.

"I'm afraid that's rather hard to explain," Gold sighed. "You'll just have to trust me for now and keep that with you at all times."

"I'm not a child anymore, Daddy, and I deserve to know why I keep getting weak," Nicole argued. "And why do I keep having these dreams about things that feel so real? Why can't I remember anything before working in the shop with you? And why do I have the feeling that Henry was right all of this time?" she cried, finally letting her emotions fly. "Daddy, what is going on?"

Gold sighed and looked at his daughter with sad eyes. He had hoped that the curse would be broken before Nicole figured out what was happening, but she had always been too smart and too powerful. Her encounter with Emma had put everything into motion, and Gold had no way of stopping it. The lie they had lived on for twenty eight years was falling apart, and he could only hope that the truth would be something his beloved daughter could handle.

"Let's go home, sweetheart," he said, finally. "We have a great deal to discuss, and you're going to need to sit down."

_**I am so sorry I'm late in updating this! College was crazy last week, and I literally had no time to write for fun with all the projects and papers I had to do. So, I'm thinking the curse should break next chapter now that you know a little bit more about Nicole/Araya and how her magic works. Speaking of which, the explanation of her magic makes sense to me because I made it up, but that doesn't mean it will make sense to all of you.**_

_**If you have any questions on how the whole Siphon thing works, just ask in a review or PM and I'll answer you (unless of course it's a spoiler in which case, sorry). This will also let me know if I have to do more explaining in future chapters to make everything more clear, so I appreciate your feedback! Also, feel free to leave any other thoughts in a review since they always make me happy!**_

_**Thanks for your support, everyone, and I'll have the next chapter out as soon as my college professors will let me!**_

**lzzie14: Thank you for the compliment, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait!**

**Grace5231973: Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and keep reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Broken**_

Nicole sat down on the couch with a huff and folded her arms across her chest. "I thought you said you'd never lie to me," she accused as Gold sat down in his arm chair opposite her.

"I haven't lied to you," Gold sighed. "I just never told you the truth."

"Why not?" Nicole asked. "Did you think I couldn't handle it or something?"

"No, I didn't _want _you to handle it," he replied simply. "You should have been able to enjoy not knowing until the proper time, but because of the blasted Savior starting things too soon, now you're in danger, and you have to know even though you won't understand."

Nicole stared at him blankly. "You do know this isn't making much sense."

Gold chuckled. "Just wait a few minutes. What I am going to tell you is going to seem insane, and you will have no way of knowing whether I'm lying or not, so you're going to have to trust me when I say that everything I say is the truth."

Nicole nodded. "I understand. Just tell me what's going on, please," she begged.

Taking a deep breath, Gold began. "Everything you know – this town, this life, and everyone in it – is a lie. The town and your memories were created by a curse that brought everyone here from a place called the Enchanted Forest. Henry was right when he told you about the book: we are fairytale characters brought into this world and trapped by an evil curse."

Nicole was silent for a moment. "Is he right about Aunt Regina too? He said she was the Evil Queen, and she cast the curse."

"I'm afraid he is," Gold sighed. "She may be nice to you, but most people aren't so lucky."

"What about you?" Nicole whispered.

"What about me?"

"Henry said…well, he said you were a…a…"

"Villain?" Gold supplied sadly. "He's right about that too."

"But he can't be!" Nicole exclaimed, jumping to her feet and pacing furiously in front of the couch. "You, Auntie Regina – you're not evil, either one of you! I don't understand!"

"Maybe not to you, but we are to most people," Gold explained. "Your aunt killed a lot of people in her quest for revenge on Snow White, Mary Margaret," he added, seeing Nicole's confusion. "And I…well, I've hurt enough people to last three lifetimes at least," he admitted.

"So this is why everyone avoids me," Nicole muttered.

"Not exactly. They avoid you because of who I am in this world. They don't remember me from there yet."

"Exactly, 'yet'!" Nicole insisted. "Once this curse or whatever is broken, everyone will remember everything, and they'll hate me even more, and they're wrong! They're wrong about me, about Auntie Regina, and they're definitely wrong about you!" she cried. "Why can't they see you the way I do?" she demanded.

"You have always been special in that way," Gold said fondly. "You've walked the line between hero and villain your whole life. It's a gift and a curse in a way, I suppose. You are able to see everyone for what they are, but it also makes it difficult to have relationships."

"Do you and Aunt Regina walk that line too?"

Gold laughed mirthlessly. "Your aunt? Absolutely! She was good once, and she can be good again – just look at the way she is with Henry or you. But me…that ship sailed a long time ago, sweetheart."

"I don't believe that," Nicole said firmly. "You love me – I know you do, and villains can't love, so you _can't _be a villain."

"So you believe everything I told you about who we are and where we're from?" Gold asked in amazement.

"I knew something was off, and I'll admit, I wasn't expecting it to be quite _this off_, but I don't think you'd make all of this up just to keep me doing what you say," she explained with a teasing smile.

"There certainly would be easier ways," Gold admitted. "But I haven't told you why you've been weak lately." He sighed again. "You came to me in the Enchanted Forest as a young girl running from an attack on your village. I kept you safe and cared for you until you were healed, then when you tried to run, we discovered that you were a Siphon capable of drawing magic from any source, even from me. You were incredibly powerful, even then, but you needed magic in order to survive."

"How have I stayed alive for the past…"

"Twenty eight years," Gold supplied with a grimace.

"Twenty eight years," Nicole repeated. "How did I live without magic?"

"I gave you as much as I could before the curse pulled us from our land, and I begged Regina to stall your powers unless you remembered who you were. Between us, we did all that we could to keep you safe, but Emma Swan ruined everything when she grabbed your arm in my shop that day."

"What does she have to do with anything?" Nicole spat.

"Everything," Gold exclaimed. "She is the product of True Love – the only one who can break the curse on this town."

"So when she grabbed me…" Nicole said slowly, "she broke the curse just on me?"

"Not exactly. You see, she only _started _to break it when she touched you. You've been having dreams of your real self, and so your powers awoke. That's why you collapsed that morning – you didn't have any magic in you until I gave you the locket. I had stored a little magic in there just in case something went wrong which is why it helps when you get weak. Your body is taking in the magic without you even realizing what's happening."

Nicole stared down at her open hands in a mixture of wonder and fear. Did she really have magical powers? Could she really draw magic from other sources?

"I know it's a lot to take in, but I am telling you the truth," Gold assured her.

"Does anyone else know the truth?" Nicole asked.

"Just your aunt Regina, me, and now you," he replied. "Your aunt didn't know that I knew until recently, but she wasn't as angry as she was when I told her about you. She's worried sick about you even though I've assured her you're in no danger."

"Daddy…what happens if Swan doesn't break the curse in time?" Nicole interrupted. "Tell me the truth," she added when he hesitated.

"If Miss Swan does not break the curse, it will be very difficult for you," he admitted. "I do have a store of True Love hidden, but it would not be as effective in small doses as if it were returned to the whole town."

"True Love?"

"True Love is the most powerful form of magic anywhere, don't ever forget that or underestimate it," Gold warned her. "If the curse is broken, I could return magic to the town with it, and you would be safe again."

Nicole was silent as she tried to digest everything she had heard, but it only made her head pound. "I think I'll go to bed now," she said finally. "I…I need some time to…you know…"

"I understand," Gold smiled. "Thank you for listening. I know that can't have been easy to hear."

"It is rather exciting, though," Nicole admitted with a smile. "I just need to process everything and understand it. Good night, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart," Gold echoed, hugging his daughter tightly. "I promise everything will be alright."

Nicole nodded against his shoulder as she squeezed him slightly.

When she finally shut the door of her room, she let out a long breath of air into the darkness before sinking down on her bed. If she was honest with herself, she was afraid of the idea that she might die because of someone else's failure despite her father's assurance. It bothered her that she could not feel the magic seeping into her veins when she clutched her locket, and it also bothered her that she had no memory of her "real life" aside from glimpses in dreams.

It had also not escaped her notice that her father had never mentioned the sailor love interest that Henry had talked about. That probably meant that her father either didn't approve of the man or he didn't know about him, and either way Nicole was worried. She wondered if her aunt Regina knew something about it, and debated asking her about it in the morning. In the end, she decided that decision was better left until the morning and climbed under the sheets of her bed, clamping her throbbing eyes shut against the relentless pounding of information and questions flying around her brain.

###

Days slid into weeks, and Nicole was beginning to worry the magic in her locket was running out. She felt weak more often, and she was afraid to leave the house in case she collapsed on the sidewalk. She spent most of her time attempting to conjure up memories of her life in the Enchanted Forest, desperate to see the truth of her father's words. She wanted to believe him more than anything, but she began to be concerned that maybe her father _had _created that story to cover up some terrible illness that was slowly killing her.

Maybe he just wanted to protect her from a terrible truth.

One particular day, Nicole awoke and felt weaker than ever. It hadn't even been this bad when she had collapsed on the living room floor. She clutched her locket desperately, but it seemed the magic was out because she did not feel the slightest bit better. Terrified, Nicole forced herself to turn and literally roll out of bed onto the floor.

Slowly, she began to drag herself across the floor towards the cell phone lying on her desk. If she could just reach her father, he would know what to do…or at least she could say good bye.

Nicole tried to force down the pessimistic side of her brain as she forced her fingers to stop shaking and dial. It took both hands to hold the phone to her ear, and even then her strength was waning fast. The phone rang, and rang, and rang with no answer.

She heard her father's voicemail message and started to cry. "Daddy…" she sobbed. "Daddy, the magic is gone. I can barely move. Daddy…" she cried even harder. "Daddy I'm scared! I don't want to die, Daddy! Please help me…I love you Daddy." Her voice had lowered to a whisper.

The phone clicked, telling her that the call had ended, and Nicole finally allowed herself to collapse on the floor – sobbing, afraid, and alone.

She lay there for what felt like hours, trying once more to conjure images of her life in the Enchanted Forest, but most of all trying with all her might to remember the face or name of the man she loved. She hated the idea of dying without at least knowing who he was, but the face remained stubbornly out of her reach.

"Whoever you are, I love you," she whispered into the air. "I'm sorry I don't remember you, but I know I love you. I wish I could see you again," she was crying again, harder this time. "I wish I could just…see…your…" her words trailed off as her strength slipped away. Suddenly, an image appeared to her.

Just like in the Rabbit Hole, she could see the figure of a man, smiling and walking towards her across a dark room – a tavern, she thought it might be. She concentrated hard on the missing face, and slowly, very slowly, features started to appear.

First came the blue eyes, then came the stubble, then came the dark, windswept hair, until finally his whole face was in focus. Nicole felt a wave of emotion wash over her as she remembered the love and affection she had for the man before her. The vision moved until he was right in front of her, then he began to tilt his lips towards hers, and just as they touched…

"Killian!" she cried, her eyes flying wide open in her room as another wave passed over her.

Suddenly, it was easier to breath, and Nicole took a deep, shuddering breath as she felt what could only be magic flying through her body and strengthening her muscles once again. Slowly, she pushed herself off of the floor, gasping and looking around in shock as memory after memory flooded her mind as though a dam somewhere had finally broken loose.

Now she could see everything from the man she loved, to meeting her father for the first time. She couldn't help the tears that fell as memory after memory played in her mind, showing her the life she had forgotten for so many years. A wave of warmth passed through her heart when she heard her father's voice whispering her name – not her curse name, but her real name: "Araya."

She smiled as the other faces in her memory all called out to her by her real name starting with her aunt Regina and ending with her pirate captain whispering it with adoration and reverence.

"Killian," she whispered again, smiling as the visions became clear. "Now I remember."

Worlds away in the Enchanted Forest, Killian Jones snapped free of the paralyzed state he had been in for so long thanks to Cora and stared down at the pendant he wore. It was glowing again, brighter than it had in years, and he clutched at it desperately.

"You better hold up your end of this bargain," he growled at the witch beside him.

"Oh don't worry about that, dear," Cora smiled. "If you help me get back to my daughter, I will help you get back to your precious girl. What was her name again?"

Killian opened his mouth to reply, but froze as he realized something quite terrible. "I-I don't remember!" he cried. "How can I not remember?!"

"Maybe it's because you've been still for twenty eight years," Cora suggested with fake sympathy. "Don't worry dear," she added with an evil smile Killian missed. "I'm sure she'll turn up eventually."

_**Hi there everyone! I am so excited to be moving on into the second season and to be bringing Killian into this at last! I'm thinking the next story will be a little bit more backstory for Araya so you can get to know her better now that she knows herself. Also, I know I had Killian moving/reacting to the necklace before the curse was broken (end of chapter 1), and I will address how that happened and why a little later on, I promise.**_

_**Anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys think so far and what you're looking forward to seeing! Just as a note, I do take ideas from reviews quite often, so if you think something would be cool to see, say so, and I'll bet you I find a way to work it in. Thanks everyone, and I'll try to be back soon!**_

**iamgoku: Thanks for the wonderful compliments! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story, and I'm super glad you like Araya/Nicole!**

**Grace5231973: Thank you for letting me know the powers thing came across – I was slightly worried they would be too confusing. And thanks for saying you wanted to see their talk in this chapter. Initially, I was going to skip it and just show Nicole in her room after, but since you wanted to see it, I decided to go ahead and write it which was actually a lot of fun!**


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